Top Marin Pirates swimmers head for USA Swimming national short course championships

THREE MONTHS AGO, Missy Franklin and Ryan Lochte were just names on TV, inspiration for swimmers around the world. But for club swimmers Kenneth Castro-Abrams, Cali Rauker and Riley Scott, they are now the competition.

The Marin Pirates teammates are competing at USA Swimming's national short course championships which run through Saturday in Austin, Texas, for the first time and the stakes are high.

"I've never been to a meet that's this high in caliber," Castro-Abrams said. "I know a couple of people that are going to be there who I've raced before, so it's going to be fun."

For Castro-Abrams, the move up from the junior national circuit is just one more step towards a new chapter — the San Marin High senior has high hopes for his last MCAL season before he begins college. He has already been accepted to Harvard University.

"Besides just improving as much as I can so I can help out my college team at Harvard, I want to be at least top three in the 100-yard backstroke at NCS," he said.

Castro-Abrams will swim the 100-yard butterfly, the 200 butterfly, and the 100 back at the championships. In May, Castro-Abrams finished second in the 100-yard butterfly at both the MCAL and NCS finals and is determined not to repeat that experience.

"I want to win the 100 fly because I was second the last two years," Castro-Abrams said. "Those are my goals for NCS, and MCALs, I just want to break the records."

What sets him apart from other swimmers is his lower-body strength and ability to dolphin kick farther than most.

"The ability to kick underwater, dolphin kick, it's extremely difficult to do because it's painful to stay underwater doing that," said Pirates coach Warren Lager. "He does that day in and day out. "... He puts in that hard work. All three of these kids put in tremendous amounts of hard work."

Having Castro-Abrams as the team captain is a blessing, Lager said, for his ability to lead and set an example for his teammates, such as Roker.

"She's just learning to do the things that Kenneth knows how to do," Lager said. "It's a really nice thing to have someone like Kenneth at practice because that underwater skill is really hard-earned and Kenneth sets such a good example of that. It's a very difficult thing to fight your instinct, you're underwater, you're tired at the end of the race, and yet you still have to fight the instinct that makes you want to seek air, and stay underwater.

Rauker, a freshman at Marin Catholic, is one of four 14-year-olds competing at the meet. Unlike her teammates, Rauker never competed at the junior nationals.

"It feels really good that I've accomplished something that big, and that I can be at that level when I'm only 14. I'm really proud of myself," Rauker said. "No matter how I do or the results, I'm just happy to be able to go."

"She's coming up early," Lager said. "I think she's going to have a big impact on the high school league, but right now her qualifying time is in the 100 back."

Scott, who lives in Sonoma County, attends Petaluma High and commutes down to Novato to train with the team, missed the cut in the 100 breast for the Olympic trials by 0.13 seconds. Not to be discouraged, she bested the qualifying time by over one second a month later.

"It's a testament to her," Lager said.

"It was really cool, even though I didn't go to trials, I made it a month after" said Scott. "I was still 14 years old which is crazy to make it when you're that young. It definitely makes me excited to see what I can do as I get older."

With a star-studded psych sheet already posted, thoughts of 2016 are in each swimmer's mind.

"Obviously, everyone wants to be able to go to the Olympics," Castro-Abrams said, pointing out that only two people from each event make the team. "It's not something that I'm expecting, but it's kind of like an out there, reaching goal. I want to be able to make trials, for the next one at least. I really want to improve and be the best that I can be, for college and the next four years.

"It's kind of hard to believe that I'm going to be going on to a new coach and a new team next year. It's kind of nerve wracking, but it's also exciting. It's like a new kind of world, I guess."

The USA Swimming's national short course championships run through Saturday in Austin, Texas.

 Marin Pirates: Kenneth Castro-Abrams, Cali Rauker and Riley Scott are all scheduled to compete. Others: Alan Winder, a former Terra Linda High standout now at University of Arizona, is also entered.